


May I Be Your Shield

by parksalvarez



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), Posie - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-04 10:24:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18341768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parksalvarez/pseuds/parksalvarez
Summary: It's many years in the future and the royal families are at the top of the food chain; in particular, the Saltzman family, one of the highest ranking royal families ever to exist.Everybody knows who they are. Everyone also knows that Josette, one of the princesses, has recently and suddenly become a widow. Her husband, Rafael, passed away unexpectedly six months ago and she is neglecting to even consider moving on.Her father, the king, is pressuring her to find someone new. Despite her fruitful protests, he organizes a gathering in which many bachelors will come and duel to be the man that Josette chooses to be her new husband. But what happens when someone entirely unexpected turns up alongside the men?





	1. Chapter 1

Josette Saltzman sat in her room, the place where most of her time was spent since her husband, Rafael's, devastating death six months ago.

Since the day that she had walked in to find him lying dead on the tile of the bathroom, the pressure of being a royal and all of the things that comes with it had become far too much for her to cope with. She, instead, decided that she would shut herself away (much to her father and twin sister's dismay).

Her mother, however, understood her plight. Born into a peasant family, she grew up with little to no money. Her father worked in the mines day in, day out, desperate to give his children and his father a good life. When the mines collapsed, killing Caroline's father and many other brave men, she was determined to find herself a man just as wonderful as her late father once was: she found it in Alaric.

Together, they ruled a kingdom and bore two children; Josette and Elizabeth, who grew up to be just as bashful yet sardonic as their mother. When Josette met Rafael, she felt as though it was love at first sight. Their eyes locked as he served her in the local bar - the place where Josette secretly frequented most Friday evenings. Three weeks later, they were engaged.

Their plans were set in stone: they were to be married exactly one week after the day they were engaged, he would then move in to the palace with Josette and they would start trying to conceive.

But not even a full week after their wedding, Josette wandered back into her chambers after spending time with her twin sister, Elizabeth, to find him curled on the floor, drained of colour and not breathing. Just like that: her whole life crumbled before her eyes.

Every plan that they had made was ruined, her heart was in shambles and she knew that she would never love again. Nobody could hold a candle to her dearest Rafael, so why would she dare even try to find someone else? It would only be a lackluster love affair in comparison.

This thought process was, unfortunately, not enough to dissuade her father from desperately seeking her another lover. He had been searching far and wide for any man that would be willing to take a widow for his wife - one that he deemed suitable for his darling daughter, but to no avail.

Josette was bought out of her reverie by a gentle rap on the door.

"You may enter!" Josette shouted, her voice cracking. She gently folded the letter from Rafael, the last letter from him that she shall ever receive, shoving it into the drawer in her vanity. If her father saw, or it somehow got back to him, that she had been reading the letter yet again, he would be seething. He didn't understand how she could be so captivated by one letter, regardless of who it was written by.

There were four sets of feet pattering on her floor, one belonging to Elizabeth and the other belonging to Alaric, her father.

"Josette, how have you been keeping?" Alaric began. "We've not seen you downstairs in quite some time. Are you feeling unwell?"

She shook her head in response.

"Well, you must come out of your room sometime. It's better that it's sooner rather than later. There is a world awaiting you outside these four walls." He'd been in her room for less than a minute and he'd already started in on her and how she had decided to cope with her grief.

"Father," Lizzie started. "She's grieving."

With a huff, Alaric turned to his other daughter. "It's been six months. She needs to move on."

Josette groaned inwardly, turning to face her father. " _She_ ," she started, gesturing to herself, "decides when she is ready to move on and face her grief. Not anybody else. After all, tis my grief."

"Of course, sweetheart." Alaric forced a smile. "However, the people are growing impatient as they wait for you to seek a new partner and, as I'm sure you are aware, when the people are unhappy, we must be unhappy."

_Could he not see that Josette was already woeful and entirely unhappy with her life?_

"Yes, father." She spoke as if on command. "I know."

With a soft huff, Alaric knelt down next to his daughter, taking her petite hand in his. "Which is why we, your mother and I, have decided to host a gathering. There will be 50 men, coming from all places, traveling far and wide to see you. They will duel for your hand in marriage: it will then go from 50, to 25, to 10, to 5. You will choose between the last two men standing."

"You've done what?" Josette exclaimed, her voice inflamed with anger. "You cannot do this to me, father. I forbid it."

Alaric stood up, clenching his fists, something he only did when he was becoming enraged. "Except, Josette, you are in no place to forbid anything. I am your superior, your king. I choose what happens to you."

"I have a mind, a mouth of my own. I am who decides what happens in my life." Josette retorts.

Alaric shook his head. "Not anymore."

With a blanket of disbelief covering her face, she turned to Elizabeth. "What do you say about all of this?"

"Oh, I think it's wonderful!" She squealed, excitedly. "Plentiful of handsome men coming to fight for you. I would kill for that to be me."

Shaking her head, Josette felt tears brimming in her eyes. "Leave. Now. Both of you."

"As you wish." Alaric replied. "Come on, Elizabeth. Let us leave your sister to stew in her own despair and anger, as she always does."

They shut the door behind them and Josette stood up, grabbing the china teacup that held her rose water that she had been drinking just moments before, flinging it at the wall.

_How dare they do this? How could they?_

The door reopened briefly, Alaric suddenly reappearing.

"I thought I told you to leave me." Josette said, entirely exasperated.

Alaric nodded. "Yes, and I will be obeying your wishes immediately. I just wanted to inform you that the duels start tomorrow at 0800 hours. You must be there to oversee them, no exceptions."

With that, he left, shutting he door and locking it behind him.

Finally, that was when Josette dropped to the floor, her gown billowing around her legs and she let the sobs overtake her entire body.


	2. Chapter 2

Penelope sat on a wooden bench in the middle of central city, the ever present sound of the general hubbub from people bustling around the streets before her filling her ears.

  
To her left, there was a young mother desperately trying to shush her baby, rocking it back and forth in the mechanical contraption know as a heavy weight stroller.   
To her right, was two men arguing, their arms flinging to and fro as the argument grew and intensified with every (inaudible, for Penelope) word.

  
In front of her, a crowd was forming as people dashed excitedly to the noticeboard.

  
Representatives from the Royal Palace had turned up earlier that day, much to the surprise of the local people. It was a rarity that anyone from the palace would dare set foot in such a lowly, dangerous place.

That being said, they hadn’t stayed long. Not nearly long enough to be jumped or hung by the fellow townspeople.

  
The men, who arrived on sleek, unconventionally white horses, had tacked something up on the notice board (which was more frequently used for church announcements and wanted posters) and then went on their merry way.

  
It was the first sighting of anything Royal Family related since before the Princess Josette’s wedding, which means it must be something important; and judging by the eardrum shattering squeals and shrieks of happiness, it must have been something exciting too.

  
The Royal Family, being that they were royal, had their loyal supporters and fans. Pretty much everyone and their mother’s were besotted with them and wanted to become one of them.

  
Everyone except for Penelope. She, personally, could not care in the slightest about these rich, highly privileged people. They had more money than common sense; enough money to feed hundreds of poor countries, but instead they kept use of it for their feeble, narcissistic purposes. It angered Penelope.

  
Which was exactly why she had decided to sit this one out. While everyone was crowding around the board, desperately seeking a glimpse of the note, she decided to wallow in her exhaustion after her sparring session and send her two best friends in to look instead.

  
It had been almost 30 minutes before her two friends, Milton and Jed, emerged from the slowly dispersing crowd.

  
“You’ll never guess what!” Milton exclaimed, excitedly.

  
“What? One of the princesses is getting married again? They found even more money to spend on nothing worthwhile?” Penelope retorted.

  
Rolling his eyes, Jed groaned. “You never let us have any fun.”

  
“You know how I feel about the royal family, cousin.” Penelope replied, tautly.

  
“Yes, I am aware. You think they’re narcissistic, self-absorbed pieces of shit with no sense of self awareness.”

  
Penelope put her finger on her nose, as if to say that he was right on the nose with his answer.

  
“Well,” Milton began. “Can we tell you anyway? Because we’re absolutely thrilled.”

  
Penelope nodded. She had no interest in hearing what was going on but, if her two best friends were this excited, it would be rude of her to not join them in their happiness.

  
“King Alaric has ordered a congregation of the finest, young gentlemen to arrive at the palace tomorrow morning to fight for the hand of his daughter.” Milton beamed.

  
“Which daughter? The pretty one with no personality whose husband died or the sarcastic one with blue eyes that no men ever seem to be interested in?”

  
Somehow, Penelope’s interest had been piqued.

  
“The one whose husband died six months ago. Josette.” Jed smiled, a naughty smile. A smile that meant he had a plan.

  
“Oh, she’s beautiful.” Penelope’s eyes widened. How was she struggling to find someone who is willing to marry her?

  
“Don’t you...hate them?” Milton asked, confusedly.

  
She rolled her eyes, in response. “Yes, Milton. I hate the family but I do have eyes that have the ability to look. I know a gorgeous girl when I see one.”

  
“Okay, okay. Fair point.” Milton held his hands up in surrender.

  
“So, are you going to sign up?” Penelope asked.

  
Shrugging, Jed turned to Milton. “I will if you will.”

  
Milton nodded. “I think I’m going to. When are we ever going to have an opportunity like this again? Two boys from lowly central city, in with an, albeit small, possibility of marrying a royal? We must grab this by the testicles, young Jed.”

  
“I agree.” Jed smiled at Milton, shaking his hand in agreement.

  
After he finished shaking Milton’s hand, he turned to face Penelope once more.

  
“One thing, though.” He started. “I firmly believe that you should sign up too, Penelope.”

  
Penelope, who was taking a sip out of her metal bottle of water, spat the water out everywhere; garnering everybody around her's attention. All eyes were placed upon her for a moment before they went back to their business.

  
She attempted to calm herself as she laughed hysterically, water dripping down her chin, her legs sodden from the water. "You want me to...what?"

  
"I never said I wanted you to do anything, numbnuts. I just said that I thought you should sign up for the duel too. It would be a change of pace: for both you and the royal community to have a badass female on their roster." Jed smiled, encouragingly.

  
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, which was covered with her long, black sleeve, she looked at him confusedly. "Why should I do it?"

  
"Because...it's the 23rd century and women are still being overlooked. We deserve someone like you in the royal family. You're strong, you can fight and defeat any men. You show your badassery every single day in your line of work. Why shouldn't you?" Milton answered for Jed.

  
"What he said." Jed nodded.

  
Penelope scoffed. "Why shouldn't I?"

  
"Yeah, why shouldn't you?" Milton and Jed said in unison, looking at each other, their eyes reading jinx.

  
Penelope rolled her eyes. "There's many reasons. Or, more namely, three very specific reasons why I shouldn't."

  
"Tell us them, then. Go ahead." Jed looked at her, intrigued as to where she may take this.

  
Penelope huffed, preparing her answers in her head. She didn't actually have any solid reasons that she could think of so she, herself, was interested to see where she would take this, too.

  
"Well, first of all: I'm a girl. Woman. These duels are specifically pioneered for men and only men. Never has a woman attempted to be a part of one of these. Second of all: I would be escorted off the premises as soon as I'm seen. They would never let anyone that looks like me join in on such a masculine, testosterone filled event. Our final reason, and probably our most important and viscal reason as to why I can't sign up, is the fact that we don't know if Josette is even into girls. The likelihood is that she isn't and, even if she were, in what world would her father let her marry a woman? Isn't that like some...death penalty kind of offense?"

  
Jed and Milton stood there, pondering. They were grabbing the seconds that they could to digest everything that Penelope had just said. Most of it made zero sense to them. It all seemed like useless reasons.

  
The time that they were taking, however, gave Penelope more of an edge.

  
"See, my reasons are so good that they've left you speechless. I'm not signing up, end of story. Full stop." Penelope nodded, as if to affirm her own words. "So, what are we getting up to now?"

  
Jed laughed. "Don't think you're getting out of it that easily, Park."

  
Rolling her eyes, she looked at her cousin with a deathly glare. "What's that supposed to mean, Jedediah?"

  
"It means...There are three simple solutions to every problem posed."

  
With a gulp, afraid of where this was going, she gestured for her cousin to continue on and give her the solutions.

  
"Firstly, the poster never said that men and only men could sign up to be Josette's new suitor. It only said the first fifty available suitors. Which is exactly what you are. Secondly, you would arrive in your armour and use an alias for your name. Something unisex. They wouldn't be able to tell that you're a woman if your name isn't feminine and you're heavily clad in metal." Jed stopped talking, unsure how to address the third problem.

  
"And...What about the third thing?" Penelope enquired, hoping and praying that he wouldn't have a solution to that. She needed just one thing to give her the upper hand.

  
If she didn't, she would have zero reason to not go tomorrow morning and that would mean that she had to give up her weekly sleep-in, watch movies and eat as much junk food as humanly possible that had become deeply ingrained into her weekly routine.

  
Milton knelt down so he was at eye level with Penelope. "The third thing has the most simple of solutions," he started. "You don't know whether she likes girls or not. Assuming that she doesn't and that she's straight simply because she was once married to a man? How heteronormative of you, Penelope. I expected more."

  
 _Yikes_. With that last solution, it gave her no reasons to not sign up.

  
"So, what do you expect me to do?" She asked, her heart beating so fast.

  
Jed and Milton turned round to face the noticeboard. The crowd had, thankfully, dispersed and was now just a couple of men drinking beer and writing nonsense on the board. There was nobody there that could tell that a woman was signing up to be a suitor.

  
Jed pulled Penelope up by the arm, dragging her over to the board. However, she didn't protest. There was some part of her that longed to do this, to sign up, to be a part of that world.

  
"What are you waiting for?" Milton asked, his eyes widening as Penelope stood there, staring blankly at the board.

  
There was a brief moment of silence.

  
"Fine, I'll go first." Jed said, cutting through the silent tension with a knife.

  
He picked up the pen, writing on the lines, before handing Penelope the pen.

  
She stared at the sheet of paper - two lines left for two more names, as if it was meant to be. But still, she felt like she was doing something wrong.

Something...that should never be done.

  
"I can't do it." She groaned. "I'm sorry. I'm too chicken shit. I can't help it."

  
Jed chuckled. "I knew you wouldn't be able to do it. Which is exactly why I already signed you up."

  
"You did what?" She asked, her eyes becoming huge.

  
Her chest heaved. How could he have signed up? She didn't see her name there.

  
"See that name, there?" He pointed to the name on the sign up sheet. "Parker. For your last name: Park. You are officially in the running to be princess Josette Saltzman's new lover."

  
_Well, fuck._


	3. Chapter 3

Josette awoke with a gentle tap on her shoulder, her chambermaid looming overhead, startling her as soon as she opened her eyes.

  
"Oh my goodness," Josette gasped, her chest heaving. "Leia, you frightened me."

  
Leia stood up straight, curtsying to the princess as she stared at the ground as though she was ashamed of herself. "Apologies, Princess. I've been attempting to wake you for many a minute, to no avail. I was afraid you were dead!" She exclaimed.

  
Josette pulled the sheet that covered her back, standing up and stretching slightly before taking Leia's hands in hers. "Please, don't stare at the floor. Look at me. I don't bite." She smiled at the lady who had taken care of her for many years now, gently pushing her chin so that her eyes met Josette's.

  
"Absolutely, miss. I apologise, again." Leia murmured, softly. "Your father is expecting you to be downstairs with Elizabeth in forty minutes. Your cortier will be arriving in ten minutes to dress you and help with your hair."

  
With that, Leia bustled out of the room.

  
Josette knew that wouldn't be the last that she saw of her today; she would be into her room again shortly to make the bed and then she would be joining Josette and her family (and possibly one of the men she meets today) for their dinner.

  
There was a gentle knock at the door.

  
"Enter!" Josette called, pulling her hair out of the tightly wound bun on the top of her head, letting her mousy brown hair tumble down her shoulders.

  
Her cortier, Maeve, walked in, dragging a long line of gowns behind her. "Don't tell your father that these dresses touched the floor, lest he hangs me."

  
Josette giggled in response.   
Maeve wasn't your typical woman who worked for the royals. She had feist, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind and she would scald Josette when necessary.

Although the scaldings did often come as a shock, she appreciated them - all Josette longed for was to be treated like a normal person and Maeve did just that.

  
"Come on, stop dilly dallying. We have suitors to impress." Maeve contorted her body into a large stretch. "And, it seems from your appearance this morning, I have a lot of work to do to make you impressive." 

* * *

Penelope stood, staring at her reflection in the just-below full length mirror in front of her. Her entire body was donned in metal, the uncomfortable aketon layered underneath. 

She kept staring at her body in this suit, unblinking. Somehow, it felt impossible to get used to. She hadn't worn her armor since she quit her job as a protector at the palace ballroom. 

It was one of the better jobs that she'd had over the past three years and, if the boss hadn't been such a perverted creep, she would probably still be working there now, making much more money than she does as a bartender (which paid her only minimum wage, purely because she's a woman). 

Closing her eyes and breathing out a deep sigh, she turned to the rest of the apartment. She was taking deep and steady breaths in attempt to calm the growing pit of nerves festering inside of her stomach. She felt ungraciously sick, as if she could puke at any given moment. How had she allowed Milton and Jed to convince her to do such a out of character, bold and crazy thing? 

Jed coughed as he walked into the kitchen, opening their small fridge to grab the cardboard carton of orange juice. "Looking good, Penelope. Or should I say Parker?" 

Penelope curtsied. "Well, that shall be my name for the next 24 hours."

"Or possibly forevermore if you get chosen." Jed smirked, pouring his drink into the glass, spilling it all over the table with his shaky hands. 

Penelope rolled her eyes. "We're out of paper towels. They put the price up by 72 cents, it's ridiculous."

Jed nodded. "I know. I saw. I'll use a dirty shirt to mop it up, don't worry."

Money was a serious object in Jed and Penelope's lives. While Milton still lived with his loving (and very well off) family, Jed and Penelope were the only family that each other had ever had. Being three years older than Penelope, when both of Penelope's parents and Jed's mother were brutally murdered with his father nowhere to be found, Jed - eleven years old at the time - took it upon himself to take care of the both of them.

He'd worked various jobs ever since, long and hard hours, enough for them to afford a small apartment and the bare necessities. His current job, a stable hand at the royal stables, paid more than all of his jobs combined but still they struggled. As soon as Penelope was able, she began to work too. Most places turned her away because of her gender, and when they found her to be gay, she was banned from multiple premises. Jobs were far and few for Penelope, so when she found one: she would take it instantly.

That was, in truth, one of the top reasons why Penelope had agreed to sign up to be one of Josette's possible suitors. If she - or Jed even - could find a way into the royal family, even if that way was simply by marrying Josette Saltzman of all people, that would entirely change their lives. No more worrying how they would get through each week, no more mopping up spilled beverages with dirty shirts. All of that had the possibility of being put behind them, if only they could win this duel. 

"So, are you ready, Penelope?" Jed inquired, placing his dirty glass into the dish bowl. 

Penelope looked at him, confusedly. "Ready for what?" 

"Ready to go to the palace, of course! Our presence is required in twenty minutes."

Even more confused, Penelope started. "But...you're not dressed in your armor yet."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Me and Milton agreed to change there." Jed smiled at his cousin, the smile seeming mischievous. 

With Penelope feeling uneasy, they set of to the palace.

* * *

Josette Saltzman took her place on her throne, wiggling about in attempt to get comfortable. Her corset - something she often refused to don - was restricting her breathing and she felt awfully uncomfortable. Her dress, however, made her feel like the princess she was.

The dress was mustard yellow, the top half covered in little green specks, the sleeves falling just below her shoulders.

It made her feel truly beautiful: something she didn't feel often. 

Her twin sister, Elizabeth, sat next to her, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "I cannot wait to see all the handsome young men fight for you. It's going to be so very enthralling, don't you agree?"

"Sure." Josette responded, but in her head she was thinking the exact opposite. She couldn't wait to pick someone easily and have this day be over. She truly was not ready for this, she just wanted to grieve for her husband in peace. 

Suddenly, there was the loud sound of a blowing trumpet, making both Josette and Elizabeth jump. 

With heavy breathing, the words that Josette had been dreading came out of the announcers mouth. 

"May we present to you, the Royal Saltzman family, your suitors."

* * *

Penelope stood in the wings. Her helmet covering her long hair - which was pulled into a tight bun. The only part of her body that was exposed was her startlingly green eyes and her long eyelashes, only able to be seen through the small slit in her helmet. 

She turned around, frantically looking for her cousin and best friend. Finally, she laid her eyes upon them at the front of the bustling hall, peeking through the bright red curtains, presumably trying to catch a glimpse of the princesses in action. 

She pushed her way through the crowd, finally reaching them, her face showing nothing but absolute horror as she realized that they were still in their mundane outfits and not their armor. 

"What are you guys doing?" Penelope exclaimed, the shock evident in her voice. "We're all, the three of us, supposed to be going out there in a mere five minutes and you're not even close to being ready! What kind of sick game are you playing?"

Milton and Jed looked at each other, devilish smiles across the lengths of their faces.

"What? What have you done now?" Penelope asked, terrified of the answer she would receive.

Jed stepped forward, taking his cousin's hand in his. "Well, you see dearest cousin...You're the only one going out there to compete. Me and Milton are simply only here to lend our wholesome support towards you in your plight."

"B-but..." Penelope began, "I saw you and Milton sign up!"

Milton began to laugh quietly, before Penelope shot a death glare at him. 

"Well," Milton said once he caught his breath from laughing. "Once you and Jed went home, I went back to the square and crossed mine and Jed's names off. To the blind eye, it would simply seem as though we got cold feet but...in truth, we just wanted you and only you to have a chance at winning this. Because we fully believe that you can win this, Peez."

Their conversation was halted by a man dressed in a bizarre costume blew a quiet horn. 

"Please form an orderly queue and enter the grounds. We will begin our introductions in a short moment."

Everyone around the three bustled into a queue, a strict line, but Penelope refused. There was no way she was going to go out there alone, surrounding by hench, testosterone filled men with something to prove. 

"You may now enter!" 

With those words being spoken, Jed pushed his cousin through the red drapes and out into the courtyard, leaving her looking like a deer in headlights.

The last thing she heard was Milton's voice wishing her good luck before one of the king's guards ushered her to her spot in line. The first spot in line. Right at the front. Right in front of the princess. The absolutely, unbearably beautiful princess. 

* * *

Josette watched as all the armored men filtered in from the back entrance, nerves beginning to stomp around in her stomach like butterflies wearing hob-nailed boots. She felt nauseated at the idea of watching men fight for her, but she had no choice but to sit there and endure it at this point. 

She looked on as each man rolled in, standing in line. 

Once all of them had taken their spots in the rows, going back three rows, she took in each of the men before her, though it was a task and a half to judge them on their appearances being that she could only see a sliver of each face. 

As she finally reached the front of the first row, her stomach did a somersault. 

Much to her surprise, she became captivated. 

Captivated by the knight with the stunning green eyes. 

 

 

 


End file.
